He seriously pursued conducting as a graduate student at Yale, caught the attention of Leonard Bernstein and worked with Bernstein at Tanglewood and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. An assistant conductor position with the San Francisco Symphony followed, as did what has been the most influential musical relationship of his life: a 1988 appointment as resident conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, where he still guest-conducts annually.

He never conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in China, although he accompanied it on its tours there. He started traveling to China in 1995 and has frequently returned to train and conduct its fledgling orchestras.

“In ’95, they didn’t have anything,” Ling said. “I try to lift them up. So every time I come back, they always show appreciation. ‘Even though the economy was not good, you come and try to train us and share your tradition.’ They remember.”

Universal language

Before China’s Cultural Revolution, classical music flourished in communist China, in part fueled by Russian musicians and Russian-trained musicians. But it was outlawed for a decade and its practitioners disgraced. Although the ban ended in the mid-’70s, it’s taken a while for the music to recover.

“It’s been very difficult for classical music in China,” Ling said. “When you lose a generation, you don’t have the training.”

But with China’s economy booming, so is classical music. The country doesn’t yet have ensembles equal to those in the West, but it is rapidly building the infrastructure.

“They understand that music is something more than just entertainment; It’s more like a universal language,” said Ling. “It’s something that connects people.

“Every city in China, every little city, is building a concert hall. It’s amazing, because once they have money, the first thing is they build a concert hall.”

Because of those halls — and because of the money — the top U.S. and European orchestras are routinely playing in China. But Ling sees San Diego’s visit as not just another orchestra going to China.

“Getting recognition is not the most important thing,” Ling said. “This is a friendship tour. We are hoping to build relations, like in Yantai, San Diego’s sister city.”

Ling, who is fluent in Mandarin, expects that he and some of the other Chinese musicians in the orchestra will have the opportunity to work with Chinese music students.

“Our (Chinese) musicians, they go there, they can talk to little kids, they can do something in their own language,” Ling said. “We can be an inspiration.”